5 Reasons Planning Doesn’t Work

Sigh. You may have noticed I like to plan my life. I think I’m good at it, but I’m deluded. I try to plan, I really do, but there are reasons planning hasn’t worked this summer: Weather. Specifically, heat is disruptive. My glorious office with windows down three sides becomes a stifling greenhouse when the […]

Turmoil in the Holy Roman Empire

Highlighting Historical Romance: Anna Markland, in which the author gives us a taste of the research involved in moving her series to Bavaria, Saxony, and other parts of Europe. __________________________________________________________ I chose to set my current series, The Von Wolfenberg Dynasty, in medieval Germany. I did this because the series is based on a book […]

Bean Counting and Productivity

Once you publish a book or, if you’re fortunate, books, you’re not just creating, you’re running a business. You find yourself with a full complement of tasks that have nothing to do with writing. The sales, customer service, and marketing departments of that business can easily swamp the creative and editorial departments, demanding and getting […]

In Which An Author Surprises Her Heroine

Highlighting Historical Romance: Michele Stegman joins us today. ________________________________________________________________________ It is a pleasure to be on your site, today, Caroline! Thank you for inviting me. In Fortune’s Foe, which scene was the hardest for you to write? The basic problem in this book is that the heroine, Mariette Fortune, wants to save her twin brother […]

Happy Declaration Day!

About the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams famously said, “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” I don’t know abut the rest of my American friends, […]

Lawlessness and Bounty Hunting in Regency England

Highlighting Historical Romance: Jude Knight Jude’s next release features a hero who is a thief taker. He prefers the term enquiry agent. Thief takers, he says, are ‘so unpleasant’. Here are some thoughts about law enforcement in Regency England. Crime was a personal affair Before 1829, our modern idea of a police force, and of […]

Betwixt and Between

I find myself torn in at least three directions these days. Having sent final copy of The Renegade Wife off to my editor at Soul Mate, I have been staring at blank Word pages and editing task lists trying to formulate a marketing plan. Since the book has an expected release date of October, I […]